Sankofa Village Wellness Center opens in Chicago's West Garfield Park community
A new $48 million wellness center opened Thursday in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. The goal is to improve the health and quality of life for people on the West Side of Chicago.
The 60,000-square-foot Sankofa Village Wellness Center, at 4305 W. Madison St., is a huge investment in the community.
Officials formally cut the ribbon on the new facility Thursday morning on the floor of a basketball court inside.
The upper level of the gym has a running track.
The gym is just one piece of the massive wellness center.
Supporters said the facility will serve as a new hub for neighborhood wellness — providing medical, dental, behavioral, reproductive, substance abuse, and HIV prevention care to 6,000 patients a year. The facility also seeks to address the reduced life expectancy on the West Side.
It also includes a clinic and office space for nonprofit and minority-owned businesses. It will also host facilities for the Garfield Prak Right to Wellness Collaborative, Rush University Medical Center, West Side United, Equal Hope, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, according to Mayor Brandon Johnson's office.
The vision for the wellness center started with faith leaders several years ago.
They were looking to make people healthier and connect them to services and new opportunities.
Marquis Pitts is an ambassador with the MAAFA Redemption Project, a social justice ministry that has a new office at the wellness center. He had a dream for a center like this when he was a kid; a place where he and his friends could be safe.
Pitts is living his dream thanks to 19 funding partners.
"For so long, we've been disinvested in West Garfield Park, and overlooked, and it seems like there is no hope. So, once you get a glimmer of hope, and people can see something successful, something that's beneficial to them, I feel like that can uplift them," he said.
The center was hosting an open house until 6 p.m. on Thursday, featuring food trucks and face painting for kids.